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Asian Americans and Immigration Reform

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Asian Americans and Immigration Reform Asian Americans and Immigration Reform Bill Ong Hingt I. INTRODUCTION The Asian American community has much to gain from progressive immigration reform. Asian Americans abroad make up the bulk of an immigrant entry list that commands a wait of almost two decades in some immigration categories. Many young men and women from Asian American communities face deportation even though they have grown up in the United States. Some are subject to harsh Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and detention policies. Of the estimated twelve million undocumented immigrants in America, more than ten percent are from Asian or Pacific countries. Many undocumented Asian Americans are college or college-bound students hoping for the passage of the DREAM Act so that they can obtain citizenship and contribute more fully 2 to U.S. society. Perhaps most importantly, Asian Americans should concern themselves with immigration reform because even the most cursory review of Asian American history informs us that immigration laws and enforcement have shaped and reshaped our communities since the 1800s. Today, every Asian American subgroup, with the exception of Japanese Americans, remains predominantly foreign-born.3 And when anti- immigrant restrictionists wage attacks on progressive immigration reform, it should not take much to realize that their efforts will, directly or indirectly, often affect Asian Americans. Although the primary focus of the immigration reform debate revolves around border enforcement and whether to legalize the predominantly Latino undocumented population, Asian Americans should not be lulled into thinking that they are not part of the controversy. Any increased focus on border enforcement will likely affect interior enforcement, and any t Professor of Law, University of San Francisco; General Counsel, Immigrant Legal Resource Center. 1. Jeffrey S. Passel and D'Vera Cohn, A Portraitof Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States, PEW HISPANIC CENTER, Apr. 14, 2009, available at http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/107.pdf. 2. The goal of the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is to allow certain undocumented students an opportunity to enlist in the military or go to college, providing them a path to citizenship they would not otherwise have. See DREAM Act Portal, Basic Information about the DREAMAct Legislation, Dec. 10, 2009, http://dreamact.info/students. 3. U.S. Census Bureau, The American Community - Asians: 2004, Feb. 2007, available at http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/acs-05.pdf 83 84 ASIAN AMERICAN LAW JOURNAL [Volume 17:83 serious discussion of legalization will induce trade-offs that may affect family immigration categories. In other words, the term "comprehensive" immigration reform serves as an invitation to partisans from the right and the left to correct what they regard as problems in the current framework. We are a nation of immigrants, but we have always been a nation that loves to debate immigration policy, and efforts at progressive immigration reform are likely to be met with stiff opposition from restrictionists who disagree over who should be admitted to our shores. The likelihood for comprehensive immigration reform in 2010 grows progressively dimmer as the November 2010 congressional elections draw closer. For a while-perhaps during the early, heady stages of healthcare reform-prospects for progressive immigration reform looked promising, as Democratic leaders were still operating in the glow of the first phase of the Obama administration. Immigration reform was getting pushed up to the front burner, as President Obama met with some thirty congressional leaders on June 25, 2009, announcing that the administration would begin working on comprehensive immigration reform right away, rather than in 2010.4 He asked Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, to begin working with leaders from both the House and the Senate to begin drafting legislation.5 But that was all before Congressional partisan politics substantially slowed health care reform efforts and the rest of Obama's agenda. So even if we get to immigration reform this year, what gets seriously considered may not be pretty. From the rhetoric generated by the administration, key legislators, and beltway immigrant rights advocates, we should ready ourselves for a set of unimaginative compromises that will include more militarization of the border; a guest worker program; reinforcement of employer sanction laws; a strict, penalty-enhanced legalization program for undocumented immigrants; possibly some backlog reduction for applicants waiting in the family immigration line; and the elimination of family immigration categories.-6 Understandably, the undocumented immigrant issue drives the immigration debate. But for whatever reason-politics, short-sightedness, inability to think outside the box-the proposals for "solving" the undocumented immigrant issue usually focus on more enforcement.' The problem, however, is that the round-them-up and seal-the-border approach will not address the long-term, systemic problem of Mexico's economy and 4. Dave Bennion, Obama, Congressional Leaders Discuss Immigration Reform, CHANGE.ORG, June 25, 2009, available at http://immigration.change.org/blog/view/obama_congressional leaders discussimmigration reform. 5. Id 6. See, e.g., Charles E. Schumer & Lindsey 0. Graham, The Right Way to Mend Immigration, WASH. POST, Mar. 19, 2010, available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content /article/2010/03/17/AR2010031703115.htmi. 7. Id 2010] ASIAN AMERICANS AND IMMIGRATION REFORM 85 the effects of globalization. And the focus on undocumented immigrants distracts us from many other critical issues that immigrant rights advocates outside the beltway wish that a Democratic-controlled Congress would have the political gumption to address. In particular, due process concerns emanating from draconian legislation in 1996 and the harsh, anti-immigrant enforcement regime enacted in the post-9/11 era are given little serious thought. President Obama deserves credit for continuing to mention the need for immigration reform. The country has needed broad, comprehensive immigration reform for many years. The undocumented population totals are estimated at ten to twelve million. Millions more languish in the backlog of legal immigration waiting lists, and since the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security on the heels of 9/11, immigration raids have left innocent communities damaged and shocked by brutal enforcement tactics. Major legislation was debated in 2006 and 2007, bolstered in part by President George W. Bush's call for a guest worker program. But nothing got passed. The attacks of 9/11 changed the political landscape for immigration reform. Immediately before 9/11, Congress and the Bush Administration were on the verge of major immigration reform. Vicente Fox, Mexico's president at the time, was pressuring President Bush to act. In addition to a generous legalization program for undocumented immigrants, immigrant rights advocates were advancing a very credible campaign to cure due process defects resulting from draconian legislation signed by President Clinton in 1996, and advocates of family immigration were pushing for an increase in visas. That all changed on 9/11. Immigration reform discussions got dropped. Immigration issues began being viewed through the lens of national security. The new Department of Homeland Security was established in 2002 and took over the old Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol from the Department of Justice. Not until President Bush, encouraged by business supporters, proposed a guest worker program in January 2004 did immigration reform get discussed again. In the process, the "Fix '96" campaign was stalled, a push by Vicente Fox for development assistance for Mexico was forgotten, an enforcement-only approach was enacted, and the immigration debate as a whole was shifted to the right. 9 In this essay, I first review a handful of policies that relate directly to issues affecting Asian immigration. I then turn to other major immigration policy questions that all Americans, including Asian Americans, should 8. See, e.g., Create Peace, Justice with Humane Immigration Reform, AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE, Mar. 19, 2010, http://www.afsc.org/Newsroom/ht/display/ContntDtails /i/87238. 9. Tom Barry, Napolitano's Hard Echo of Liberal Immigration Reform Strategy, AMERICAS PROGRAM, Feb. 19, 2009, http://americas.irc-onlinc.org/ami/5884. 86 ASIAN AMERICAN LA WJOURNAL [Volume 17:83 contemplate. Addressing these questions directly and without delay is an important step in resolving the tension over immigration that affects all communities of color in the United States. II. FAMILY IMMIGRATION CATEGORIES The majority of immigrants to the United States today enter in family categories. Some 400,000 to 600,000 immigrants qualify each year as immediate relatives (spouses, children, and parents of adults) of United States citizens.'o This immediate relative category is unlimited, although the number of immigrants has remained relatively steady in the past few years at around half a million.' About 200,000 enter each year in the family preference categories, which include unmarried adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, spouses and children of lawful permanent residents, married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and the siblings of adult U.S. citizens.' 2 In 2006 and 2007, about 160,000 immigrants entered per year across
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